Disclaimer: I own nothing

Author's note: Thank you for the reception of this story, I know it is disappointing that I started a fic like this when I have others unfinished but I know most of you understand that I'm going through a hard time right now and for some reason this story is the one speaking to me the most. I don't know why but it is and rather then hide away and not publish anything at all, I chose to share this.

I do feel compelled to say a few words to my detractors who tried to bully me or make me feel guilty. First of all I will remind you that I do not make or recieve any money from publishing these stories, meaning I'm in under no obligation to write or post anything at all. It is a courtesy that I even do so. It also means that I am under no obligation to post what certain people want, I can and will post what I want despite what some people say. It is sad that I guessed correctly what many people would post when I published this story. Fortunately I'm beyond the point of caring as my personal life had essentially hit rock bottom, I do not believe any harsh words can hurt me anymore.

For the many many MANY people who still love and respect me. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much I love you too.

Anonymous Reviews:

Anonymous: Thank you. I do have a lot going on right now which is why posts are so infrequent but it means a lot that you enjoyed this.

Bonsai: There I did!

Jessica: Thank you, I know a lot of people want Poison and Wine and I do have some written. But right now I'm facing a lot of personal problems which have made things very difficult for me. I'm just grateful I have at least one story that has still kept my muse in check, some nights all I do is stare at my computer and type nothing. I hate those nights.

Anara: Thank you so much, I'm doubting everything about myself right now including my writing so it does mean a lot that people tell me otherwise

MissA: I loved writing Jane's feelings about his child, that wistful "what might have been" with Lisbon is important. Yes Van Pelt is dead and it does play a HUGE part in this story.

Anonymous: Thanks for the compliment, I'm sorry I hurt you like that but I'm glad that I brought out such emotions.

Anonymous:Thank you for understanding, right now I feel like just writing anything is a big accomplishment.

Chapter 2: Throwing Down the Gauntlet

Agents Lisbon and Moretti stood in Special Agent in Charge Emily Madsden's office and Jane had invited himself for the meeting as well. Madsden didn't mind, mostly because she would have asked him to come anyways. She'd done well for the past five years, out lasting both Hightower and Wainwright's tenures, but she had the advantage of accepting the job after Red John's demise. Of course it certainly helped that Jane supported her, in fact he had a good relationship with her, something he hadn't really had since Virgil Minelli.

That didn't mean he could do as he pleased, it merely meant she knew that the best way to handle Jane was to stay on his good side and ignore him until he made another mess she had to clean up.

"Well, agents, could you tell me what happened at the warehouse this morning?"

Moretti took the lead. "My team was investigating a lead that some illegal smuggling was taking place, maybe weapons."

"It's not weapons," Jane said knowingly. He'd been rather smug the whole time and both his current and former team leaders noticed.

The agents ignored him for the most part. "We were looking into the warehouse to find any evidence of the smuggling operation when we were interrupted by Agent Lisbon's team."

Lisbon stepped up. "My team was following our own lead on the death of a fourteen year old girl found dumped in Henderson. We got a tip that she was seen at the warehouse so my team went in there to investigate. We found Moretti's team there as well."

Madsden raised her eyebrows. "Could be a coincidence…"

"Or you could point out the obvious," Jane cut in, "That we are investigating the same case."

"How does the murder of a fourteen year old girl fit with a smuggling operation?" Moretti asked, Lisbon was wise to keep her mouth shut.

Jane took the challenge with a smile. "Let me guess. Foreign, sexual abuse, dressed provocatively."

Lisbon nodded; she was surprised but not that much. She'd already begun to suspect Jane's theory not long after he came up with it. In that way it was not so different from five years ago. Jane smiled at her and simply continued, "Really there is only one logical conclusion, the cargo that was being smuggled…was your victim."

"You're saying that this is a human smuggling ring," Madsden commented.

"Exactly."

There was a very long moment of silence that hung over the room. None of them liked the idea of human trafficking ring going on in Sacramento, those things happened in other places…not the heart of California. But Lisbon was the first one to admit. "Jane is right, our victim was young, new to the country and abused over a long time. It's the most likely scenario that fits the evidence we have."

Madsden looked at the two agents carefully. "It appears that this is a situation that certainly warrants our best…and I can't think of two teams better suited for this job."

Moretti crossed his arms over his chest. "You are proposing a joint investigation."

"I'm not proposing, I'm saying that your team and Agent Lisbon's team will be handling this investigation together. Your team is well equipped for handling a smuggling operation but with kidnapping and murder mixed in, you'll need the expertise of the serious crimes unit." She eyed both of them carefully, "Is there a problem with sharing this case?"

"No ma'am," Lisbon said quickly while Moretti simply shook his head. He wasn't happy but it was probably more to do with his fervent independent streak, he hated sharing control with anyone. But at least he knew when he had to obey orders.

"Very well, you'll want to brief your teams immediately." All three turned to leave but Madsden stopped, "Jane, Lisbon, stay a moment."

Moretti gave Jane an annoyed look but he left the two of them alone with their boss. Lisbon couldn't help but glance at Jane; she knew what this would probably be about. But Jane's face was impassive, though there was a glint in his eyes but she didn't know exactly what that meant.

Madsden looked both of them over. "I want to make sure that this arrangement will be all right with you." She addressed both of them but she was really speaking to Lisbon there.

"My team will be fine with this," Lisbon stated, "we are professionals, we simply want to get this case closed as soon as possible."

"And your personal lives?"

She blushed then; there was no getting around that little part of their history. "My personal history with Jane has no bearing on this. It hasn't affected out work yet and I don't see why it would now."

Madsden eyed Jane who trumpeted Lisbon's own statements. "I certainly don't have a problem with any of this."

"No I didn't think you would," Madsden replied cryptically. "Very well. I'd like to talk to Jane alone for a moment."

Lisbon was confounded by that statement and for a second returned to the partner she used to be, giving Jane a warning look as if to say 'Don't screw this up for me', before stepping out of the office. Jane wasn't nearly as confused as Lisbon, he'd expected this.

"I don't have to ask if you are happy about this."

"A fourteen year old girl is dead and dozens of others are being abused," Jane reminded her, "Why would anyone be happy about that?"

"You are working with Agent Lisbon and her team again."

Jane smiled then. "All right, I'll admit to being pleased by that twist of fate."

Madsden wasn't quite so amused. "This is a serious investigation.

"I know that."

"And her team has been through quite a lot."

Now Jane was the one to give her a serious look. "You do not need to remind me of what they went through. I was there. I lived through it."

The woman didn't flinch, just stared Jane right down. It was why they worked so well together. She wasn't afraid of him and even knew what buttons to push sometimes. They would have been great adversaries or partners in another life, but Jane was living a different life and he liked her…but there were other people he loved more.

"I just want you to be careful," Emily told him softly. "Don't push them too hard."

He wondered about the reasons for this little conversation, perhaps it really was simply her wishing to protect the people who worked for her. If it was anything more…well he didn't need to deal with anything else when right now he wanted to focus on maybe mending some bridges that he had once thought destroyed.

"I know how to work with them," Jane reminded her, "Time has passed. Some wounds have healed."

"You haven't," she pointed out, "not completely."

He couldn't very well deny that. "No…but I'm ever hopeful."

She didn't look quite so convinced but she didn't have much of a say anymore in this. "I'll keep an eye on you."

"More than usual?" He quipped and noted the slight blush on her cheek. Maybe it was a mistake to say that, but he never could resist his charming nature. Besides, it was harmless…at least for him.

Jane gave her a glowing smile as he left her office, eager to finally start on something he'd always dreamed of doing.

Lisbon told Madsden that it would be a problem with her team and she meant it, she knew that her team could be professional about working with Moretti's team. But that didn't mean she didn't have some concerns about their reactions to working with Jane again. She had spent the past five years trying to keep her personal life with Jane and his now constant presence at the CBI away from the members of her team who would be sensitive to it. She knew there was the odd meeting in the elevator or the parking lot but as far as she knew nothing more than that. She hadn't had a professional meeting with Jane since Red John's ultimate demise and she hadn't spoken a word beyond the care for their child since Grace was born.

She still remembered sitting down in the bullpen and explaining the situation to them, promising both of them that she would never let her personal relationship with Jane interfere with their lives. It hadn't been easy for them to accept that she was having a child with him while assuring that they could all cut him out of their lives. There had been some fear that they would reject her and her baby but she should have known that they would never hold anything against her…and little Grace had worked her own miracles, filling a void that had been ripped from all of their hearts. Her little girl had done a lot in helping them heal.

And there was the chance that this could reopen those wounds.

Lisbon walked into the bullpen with a bit of trepidation but her team was diligently doing their work as if they weren't aware that something major was going on. They knew, there was no doubt about that, they were just very good at pretending otherwise. "Hey," Lisbon said, drawing their attention her way. "It looks like our case has crossed over into Moretti's."

Cho and Rigsby nodded and the former was the one who asked. "Are we taking it?"

"Yes and no," Lisbon explained, "it's going to be a joint investigation. Moretti's team will work the smuggling angle while we look into our victim, most likely our killer is running his smuggling ring."

Now she focused her gaze on Rigsby and Cho. "You know this will mean working with Jane. I know that isn't ideal but this is our job, but it's all right if you guys have some objections.

She looked back feeling nervous about this. It wasn't an easy sell these guys had been through so much; she didn't want to cause them any more pain. If they said they weren't comfortable with this then she didn't know what she would do but she would find a way so that they wouldn't have to see or work with Jane again.

Rigsby and Cho exchanged looks before Cho simply shrugged. "Sure, boss."

She blinked a couple of times. "What?"

"It's fine with us," Rigsby said.

"You'll be working…with Jane."

"We know," Cho told her calmly, "It's fine."

Lisbon stared at them in almost disbelief. "You're sure?"

"Yeah."

For five years she'd been trying to protect them and now…now it was like it was just another Tuesday. Oddly enough that was what was hard for her to accept. It took her a moment to recognize that this was the best thing that they could have said; it would mean that this short temporary alliance would at least go smoothly on her end. "Well all right then."

It had been decided that they would commandeer a conference room in order to accommodate both teams instead of squeezing them into one bullpen. Rigsby and Cho were very sedate about this convergence and Lisbon tried to hide how much she was fretting over it. The other member of their team, Brennar, was rather excited about the turn of events, especially at finally getting to meet the infamous Patrick Jane. Oh she knew about him, everyone at the CBI knew about Jane and his crazy antics. She even knew that Lisbon was once his partner five not-so-long years ago, but mostly all she knew was gossip…some exaggerated gossip as well.

"I heard he hypnotized a court room to get out of prison."

Lisbon rolled her eyes, not able to hold her tongue here. "He didn't hypnotize a courtroom, he merely convinced a jury that he killed a man in self defense." She gritted her teeth from that memory, oh she'd hated those days when she thought that Jane would be sent to death row.

"Okay…I also heard he escaped from jail using a mouse."

Rigsby started to cough then, a cough that sounded very much like a laugh. Lisbon looked away now. "Yeah, that one's true," she muttered.

Amy gasped at that one in wonder and with a bit of amusement. "Wow. I'll need to hear the rest of that story. Any others?"

"About a million," Lisbon replied, gathering up the files, "None that I'm going to share right now."

"You worked with him for six years, is he still like that?"

"I'm sure he is, Jane doesn't change."

"But you don't know him now."

Lisbon turned to give her a pointed look. "I have a child with him."

Amy blushed then. No, she hadn't forgotten juiciest part of the saga that was Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon. "Well…yeah but, you haven't worked with him."

"No, I haven't," she admitted, "but I know how to handle him."

She didn't say anything else when they made it to the conference room, she really didn't want to talk anymore about her and Jane. It was embarrassing enough having to walk around with everyone knowing that she had a child with Jane; she didn't need to explain the six years of foreplay that led to her daughter's conception. Even more so, she didn't need to go into detail over how Grace's parents' separated mere days after that important event.

Some memories were far too painful to share…ever.

Moretti's team was already in the conference room, placing their folder's neatly on the table with Jane being Jane, standing and waiting with a very pleased smile on his face. She knew he hadn't planned this, couldn't have even dreamed up this twist of events if he'd tried…but she damn well had a feeling he didn't mind it in the least.

She just wished she knew what he was up to.

Both teams sat down on either side of the table, almost as if two warring factions were starting a truce even if that wasn't necessarily the case. Lisbon didn't know Moretti very well. She knew he'd done some good work in the past, that his record was impeccable and his solve rate was the first in the state…the latter achievement only happening after Jane joined his team of course.

She also knew that Jane had somehow managed to keep from driving him away, something he hadn't done with anyone besides her. She tried not to let that fact bother her, Jane wasn't a part of her team now, she shouldn't care what he did with his job.

Lisbon took the lead in starting the collaboration. "My team received a call from Henderson PD yesterday about a body found off of the highway."

The photographs were passed around a long with the copy of the autopsy report. Most of Moretti's team glanced at the photos and looked with greater interest at the notes and reports on the crime scene. She did notice that Jane was studying the autopsy report intently; he must have caught something that interested him.

"We received a tip that our victim was spotted at the warehouse where we met your team," Lisbon explained, "we're still following that lead but no doubt it connects with your smuggling operation."

"The question is how much?" Moretti pointed out, "If Jane is right…"

"If?" Jane questioned, clearly insulted that his track record was being doubted. Both Lisobn and Moretti chose the same tactic: they ignored him.

"If he's right," Moretti continued, "It's just as likely someone who bought her killed her, what with all of the obvious abuse. It looks like she was strangled."

"That would be wrong," Jane interrupted. "Since she was drugged, she had an averse reaction and she stopped breathing. The marks on her throat were to throw off the cops who didn't look hard enough." Moretti glared at him but Jane didn't bat an eye, "the coroner pointed it out…unless you think I'm wrong."

Lisbon flipped through the report and noticed the toxicology findings. She glanced up to meet Jane's eyes. "You think that the same guys who are running this operation are the ones who gave her the drugs."

"They have to be hiding the girls somewhere, the best way to keep them quiet is to drug them," Jane pointed out, "The wrong dose or just a miscalculation and one of them is killed."

Cho looked up. "It explains the drop off scene in Henderson."

Of course Jane was right. It was the scenario that fit the best, not to mention it firmly tied their cases together. Lisbon met Moretti's eyes and saw he felt the same way about this. "This is primarily an human trafficking investigation," Moretti pointed out, "my team should take point on this."

"The best lead you have for this is my teams victim," Lisbon replied smoothly, "she's the only tie we have right now and the best evidence we have. We find out where she was kept and what happened to her, we find the men who are behind this and God willing, save the other girls." She kept her eyes on his, "This will be a joint investigation, and we'll share everything with our teams and play to each other's strengths."

Moretti wasn't comfortable with that idea but she didn't back down. He might have the stronger closed case rate now but she had seniority, after all, her team was the one who finally nabbed Red John. Lisbon knew when to stand her ground; she wasn't going to compromise on this one.

Finally the other team leader leaned back and opened up the files in front of him. "Thaler received a tip from one of his contacts about shipments coming in from the docks at San Francisco and being brought here."

"You have anything on the ships? Where they came from?"

"Southeastern China," Jane offered up, "I'm guessing from the old calluses on her hands that she probably used to work on a rice farm until she was taken or sold."

Lisbon didn't ask how he knew these things, that was merely Jane being Jane. "Well, Moretti. It appears you have a new lead."

The agent grunted and turned to Agent Grey. "Look up all ships that came in from south eastern China in the last six months, all of them. I don't care if all they carried were Pez dispensers."

"My team has been looking into the warehouse," Lisbon admitted, "we are tracking down the owner to see who he leased it to and what they were doing there."

"Thaler is going to talk to his contact again," Moretti told her, "see if there is any new information he'll be willing to share fact to face."

"Sounds like a plan," Lisbon agreed, "we'll share what information we find."

With that set in motion, all of them recognized that they were being dismissed to carry it out. That is until Moretti told Jane, "Go with Thaler, see if you can get this guy to say anything else."

"Eh, I'm not so sure that's where I'm needed," Jane replied.

"Excuse me?"

"Well Thaler is very good at talking to his own marks and quite honestly, a human smuggling ring is interesting but a murder case is more of my game," Jane told him slyly.

'Where have I heard that before?' Lisbon wondered just as it all came screaming back.

Bosco. Missing girl. "Live kidnapping victim, so much more my own speed than a shriveled old corpse" Jane had been up to something then, it had to mean he was up to something now. Lisbon would bet her house on it.

"You want to work with Lisbon's team?" Moretti asked incredulously.

"Why that's a brilliant idea."

Lisbon had to stifle the urge to roll her eyes then. Moretti took a much more direct approach. "No."

"It's all right, Moretti," Lisbon cut in. "If Jane wants to tag along he can, he might have some good insight." She ignored Jane's surprised look, he hadn't expected her to give in so easily. Well he didn't realize that she knew the best way to keep an eye on Jane was to play along sometimes.

Moretti did not like the idea of letting Jane out of his sight, she knew that feeling well. But Lisbon kept herself as calm as possible, let him see that this didn't affect her, let Jane see that too. Finally the other man shook his head. "All right, Jane, just don't do anything stupid."

"When have I steered you wrong?"

Rigsby let out another cough and Lisbon didn't hesitate to elbow his side this time. "I can handle Jane," Lisbon assured Moretti before turning her attention to Amy. "Brennar, you've been wanting more field experience, now's your chance. You'll come with me while Rigsby and Cho knock on doors near the warehouse, see if anyone else saw anything."

Amy jumped at the chance to get out of the bullpen and get some field experience, not realizing that said experience was coming from Lisbon's desire to keep Jane away from Rigsby and Cho as much as possible. She knew that wasn't lost on Jane though, well if he wanted to talk to the boys he would have to do it without her knowledge…and she was going to watch him like a hawk.

Starting now.

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Warehouse was owned by Lichtman Storage, the owner lived just outside of Sacramento and was willing to talk to them. The car ride to his house was fairly silent with Lisbon clutching the steering wheel tightly and Jane sitting in the passenger seat. It was a very familiar setting that Jane relished; it felt normal to be working a case with Lisbon again. Something he thought he might never have the opportunity to feel once more.

Now he'd just have to see if he could make it permanent.

Lisbon stopped the car outside of a small inlet of buildings that obviously primarily housed office space. One plaque outside the cookie-cutter doors read "Lichtman Storage". Brennar caught Jane's eye as she got out of the car and immediately looked away like a schoolgirl with a crush or someone shyly meeting an idol. It was amusing but harmless, Jane knew very little of Lisbon's newest team member but he figured she must have been met with approval since she'd managed to stick around a little over a year, that was the longest of her predecessors since Grace.

That memory still caused him pain. It was tempered with time and scar tissue but it still hurt. He still had nights where he woke up remembering the blood pooling on the floor and seeing the life fade from her hazel eyes, at least knowing the comfort of her husband's arms as she slipped away from the world.

It was a terrible way to die, slowly and in pain, and there was no doubt Jane carried most of the blame there. It wasn't something he was able to forgive himself for.

But five years had tempered that pain and a beautiful little girl had helped him to once more find a reason to go on living. Maybe it was too much to ask for a second chance with Teresa Lisbon and her team but Jane was a man who went after what he wanted, damn what he did or did not deserve.

Lichtman Storage had a cheap reception area with plastic chairs and a little dish of breath mints. A very bored looking woman sat behind a small desk, she actually jumped when the door opened. "Can I help you?" she asked, her voice was slow and lazy too.

"I'm Agent Teresa Lisbon of the CBI, this is Agent Brennar and Patrick Jane," Lisbon told the woman, "I need to speak to your boss Gary Lichtman about a warehouse he owns."

A balding head peaked out of a door down the small hallway and they had their answer. Lisbon didn't wait for permission but headed straight for the man. "Mr. Lichtman?"

He stood up, slightly red in the face and shook her hand. "Yes, Agent Lisbon. Uh…how can I help you?"

"We contacted you about the warehouse you own on Third Street, we believe it might be linked to a human trafficking ring," she told him simply, "we need to know who was renting it from you."

"Uh…like I told your friend on the phone…it isn't easy for me to find the records."

"We need them as soon as possible."

"It'll take time though," the man squirmed nervously. Too much actually, it was so obvious that he was hiding more than just bad hygiene.

"You don't have the records do you?" Jane stated.

Lichtman looked up startled and his round face turned an even lighter shade of pale. "Uh…no of course I do, I just…I'm a bit disorganized."

Lisbon stepped forward having caught on to Jane's suspicions. "Then you'll let my team look through your records, their very good at their job, I'm sure they'll find what we are looking for."

"Uh…well, ma'am it might not be that simple and…"

Jane started to laugh. "Just admit it, you don't have the records. You destroyed them."

"That's not a crime!" Lichtman shouted.

"Covering up a human trafficking ring is," Lisbon replied quickly.

"I didn't know what they were doing!" Lichtman explained, "I swear."

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Brennar asked indignantly.

"It's true, I didn't know what they were using the place for. They gave me the cash to rent the space and then told me to keep it quiet," Lichtman explained, "He had a gun! What was I supposed to do?"

Lisbon raised a hand to silence him. "Start by telling us who he was."

"He said his name was Li, a real tough looking Asian guy. That's all I know."

Jane shook his head. "No, it's not."

Lichtman looked down, he was a terrible liar and even worse when he was caught. "Okay, one of the guys with him had some kind of scar or something on his face. I think his name was Zheng or something like that."

Lisbon relaxed and so did Jane; he could tell that it truly was all this man could give them. He was hardly more than a frightened mouse that did what was told and nothing less. "We still want your files, Mr. Lichtman, I'm sending the forensics team from the CBI to collect them, to see if there is anything else that you missed."

He winced but didn't fight it. Jane knew that Lisbon knew this was probably not necessary but she wasn't above wringing a few drops of blood out of someone as pathetic as he, and she probably wanted to know what other things he was hiding.

They left the building with Lisbon satisfied that they had something of lead. "We'll head back to the CBI," Lisbon said as soon as they got back into the car, her attention on Brennar, "Look up any violent offenders named Li or Zheng, the scar could be the tip we need."

"Got it, boss," Brennar replied professionally.

Lisbon wasn't nearly as tense now, probably because she was so focused on the case she'd all but forgotten she was supposed to be concerned about his presence. This had all been fairly routine, the perfect chance to lull her into complacency while he continued to work his magic.

They drove past a large sprawling park with a soccer field and big playground area, not unlike the one Jane had taken his daughter to in the lingering hours of her visit the weekend before. "Lovely," he noted, nodding in towards the park. "Grace would love it."

Lisbon glanced at it but didn't say anything, now her tense frame returned. But Jane pressed on. "She's been asking to go to the zoo again, would you mind if I took her next weekend?"

"Jane, stop," she stated, her lips pressed into a fine line.

"Stop what?"

Now she did meet his eyes, a cool gaze that was meant to keep him in line, it never worked. "We are working, this is a joint partnership in a professional setting only. Right now we are not parents but simply two coworkers in a temporary partnership. We will not discuss anything personal. Understood?"

Jane stared at her for a moment; a little shocked she was being so cold about this. Then he shook his head. "No."

"No?"

"No I don't agree to that."

"Excuse me?"

"It's impossible, Teresa. You don't stop being a mother whenever you walk through the CBI, you cannot expect either one of us to forget we have a child together just because you don't want to mix your personal life with this case."

"I don't want my personal life to be on display," She replied harshly. "Now, stop it."

Jane rolled his eyes and turned in his seat to look at Agent Brennar. "Brennar? Or should I call you Amy?"

The woman blinked a couple of times. "Uh…Amy is all right."

"Well then, Amy, you knew that your boss and I used to work together right?"

"Of course!"

"And that we have a daughter together?" She nodded again now looking almost as uncomfortable as Lisbon. "So does it bother you if I mention Grace?"

Amy shook her head. "No."

Jane turned back in his seat and grinned at Lisbon. "You see. No one cares."

Lisbon glared at him angrily, obviously torn between ignoring him and hitting him. "That was not necessary," she hissed.

"I was merely illustrating that your ridiculous rules are just that, ridiculous."

She groaned loudly. "Fine, Jane. You can take Grace to the damn zoo next weekend. Now are you happy?"

"Yes but that wasn't the point."

Lisbon gritted her teeth but kept her eyes staring out the windshield. "When we talk about our child it will be in appropriate setting and, if possible, in private. We don't need to discuss our custody arrangement in front of half of the CBI."

"Fair enough," Jane said, relaxing into the seat now that he'd obviously won that argument. Lisbon refused to say another word and Amy was in the back seat struggling to hide her smile at the argument that she had been privy too.

Jane was content not for winning the battle but at merely being able to kindle it. This had been a small shadow of what they had once been, two partners bickering in the midst of an investigation, now with the welcome addition of their child.

It was small, but it was a step. And he would take it.

Moretti's team was still working on their side of the investigation while Lisbon's team was caught in between following reports and waiting for new leads. Gray was still trying to narrow down the list of ships that had docked in San Francisco over the past six months while Brennar has the almost as unenviable task of looking into the two shady characters described by Lichtman.

Jane took the lull as an opportunity to rediscover old territory, the break room on this floor. It had been a while since he'd gotten a good cup of tea from that room, frequenting either the cart on the roof or the slightly older model on his current floor. But this whole opportunity was about trying to go back to the life he truly wanted.

It would be easier if Lisbon wasn't so dead set against him being involved but he wasn't surprised by her reluctance. She'd taken every step she could to prevent him from having any professional setting with her or her team in the past five years. She would have preferred to have had no relationship with him but Grace's conception had made that difficult. Not that she hadn't tried, but she'd at least had the decency of admitting defeat after he found out about her pregnancy. She'd agreed to fair custody arrangement early on but everything else had mostly consisted of him fighting for more.

Such as the day of Grace's birth. If Lisbon had her way he'd have received a phone call after their daughter was born, thankfully it hadn't worked out that way. She'd had a few choice words when he refused to leave the delivery room but stopped fighting it the closer contractions got. She'd cried with him the first time they saw their child and didn't protest at all as he'd held his second daughter in his arms.

But their relationship had never extended beyond the personal, almost in exact opposition to their previous relationship, which had never extended beyond the professional. Well, except the night Grace was conceived. But that was not the issue here; the facts were that Jane had wanted to repair not only his relationship with Lisbon, but also with Rigsby and Cho. At first he'd allowed this wall to go up because he'd felt like it was the best thing for all involved, but now that wasn't good enough for him. He wanted his friends back, he always had.

So when Cho came in for a cup of coffee, Jane was happy for the chance to start his attempts immediately.

"Hello, Cho," Jane greeted his estranged friend.

The other man gave Jane a nod while pouring himself a cup of coffee. He'd never been talkative to begin with so Jane knew more prodding was going to be necessary. "You know it's customary to exchange pleasantries, especially when old friends are catching up."

Cho did turn around now to look at Jane. "Except we already know what happened to each other."

Jane smiled then; he knew that was the truth, for the most part anyways. "I'm quite certain there are some things we don't know about." Cho didn't disagree but Jane took the initiative, starting with a painful subject but one he was especially concerned about. "How has Rigsby really been doing?"

There was no hiding the pain and sadness that Cho felt, it was something they all shared, a wound that had never fully healed. But to Jane's surprise and Cho's credit, the agent didn't turn around and walked away. Instead he met Jane's eye. "Better," Cho told him honestly, "It took a while but he's better."

He had been keeping a careful eye on Rigsby as much as he could over the years and he'd thought that the man was starting to finally heal, but it was a relief to have it confirmed. Jane nodded his head. "I'm happy to hear that, it isn't easy to overcome something like that."

"You would know that," Cho remarked.

"Yes, but I wasn't the right person to help him," Jane explained, "He needed someone he didn't hate."

Cho met his eyes, a very serious expression on his face. "He doesn't hate you." Jane looked up, a bit startled by that declaration. Even more so when Cho clarified. "None of us do."

Jane knew he was telling the truth, which was what surprised him. They should hate him; he certainly had said those very words to himself over the years. And yet here they were, true it was coming from the person who had the least amount of grief with him but that shouldn't matter. Forgiveness was not supposed to be for the likes of him. Neither was happiness and yet he'd found a few bright spots over the years, all involving his daughter.

Perhaps he was wrong about one or two things after all.

"That doesn't make me any less deserving of your hate," Jane pointed out.

Cho didn't say anything for a moment before finally telling him simply. "That's where you and her were wrong, we didn't need someone to hate."

Jane perked up. "Then what did you need?"

He honestly was wondering what Cho would say to that, he was genuinely curious because he had truly believed that hatred was all they needed to get through their pain. It certainly had been what he'd used for nearly a decade. There may be flaws to that logic but he couldn't deny the results.

But Jane didn't get the answer he was waiting for because of the untimely interruption of the one person who was determined to keep the boundaries up and firmly in place.

Lisbon stood in the doorway to the break room and didn't look happy at the short-lived reunion. From the glared directed his way, Jane knew immediately whom she believed was the one pulling the strings. Cho noticed Lisbon too and nodded in greeting. She smiled back at him calmly, "Hey, Cho. Rigsby could use your hand with the reports."

"Sure, boss."

Cho stepped around her and suddenly Jane and Lisbon were alone in the break room. He was amused at her obvious rush to judgment here, even more so for her overprotective nature. "You know, we were playing nice, no need to send him away," Jane quipped.

"Don't start pulling your typical Jane act on me," Lisbon replied, walking towards the table and sitting across from him. Her stance was like someone trying to size up a swindler. "I want to know what the hell you think you are doing?"

"Drinking tea. It's actually quite nice, would you like a cup?"

"You know what I meant. Don't think I didn't catch your act before, why are you trying so hard to make a connection? Why after five years do you suddenly want on this team again?"

Jane raised an eyebrow then. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you the one who refused to work with me again?"

She sat back, a slight color to her cheeks at that truth being thrown back in her face. "You've been perfectly content with Moretti's team."

"Don't confuse content with happiness," Jane replied, "If you think for one second I've enjoyed this arrangement between us then you have been very, very wrong."

Lisbon was clearly taken aback by that statement. He knew she hadn't lived in delusion the past few years; she had to have recognized that he hadn't like how things were between them. But she might have told herself that he wasn't as unhappy as he really was. Well this was her wake up call.

"So what do you want?" She asked him bluntly. "The truth would be nice?"

"But to what degree?" Jane said, "Because I'm not sure you're entirely read for complete honesty on my part."

"What the hell do you want?" She groused out.

He grinned, thoroughly enjoying this game now. "Is it hard to believe that I want to be on better terms with the mother of my child?"

"I think things are fine the way they are."

Jane laughed mirthlessly. "Barely speaking? Only meeting and talking over our child? If we hadn't had Grace you wouldn't have seen me ever again."

"And you wouldn't have come back," Lisbon said slightly smug, "You can't put this wall entirely on me, you added a few bricks yourself."

"I'm not the one who sealed the top with barbed wire," Jane shot back, "and I'm the one who's decided that he's sick of it."

"What the hell are you saying?"

"I'm saying that it's time. Agent Lisbon, tear down this wall!"

She rolled his eyes at his dramatic flair, not entirely surprising. "It isn't that simple, Jane. You can't just declare that you want things to be different. Nothing has changed, not one damn thing. You still aren't welcome on my team."

"Are you sure your team feels the same as you?" Now Lisbon bristled and that intrigued Jane. "Ahhh, obviously not."

Lisbon lowered her voice to almost menacing. "It took a long time for Cho and Rigsby to get over this, I will not let you destroy them again."

"I have no intention of doing that," Jane replied.

"You never do, but then again it never mattered one damn bit what anyone else felt or wanted. The only thing that you ever cared about was yourself," Lisbon said angrily. "You have your one goal and you'll do anything to get it, even hurt or destroy the people who care about you."

Jane wasn't going to deny the consequences his actions had caused over the years. He'd certainly known the incredible pain he'd put her through on his hunt for Red John. She was wrong to think he hadn't cared, he'd just known that such pain was unfortunately inevitable to get his revenge. It didn't make it right but Jane took comfort in the fact that he'd hated every moment of it. He wasn't heartless at the very least.

"That's not true anymore," Jane pointed out, "Red John is dead."

Lisbon shook her head. "It's your nature that is the problem, you can't change how you are. You want something and you'll do anything to get it and damn the consequences. Now all I want to know is what you want from me?"

Jane leaned forward ready to deliver at least part of the truth. "I want to fix things between us. I'd like to have a relationship with Rigsby and Cho again since we used to be rather good friends once upon a time. I'd like to work with people I respect instead of merely tolerate. And finally, I want to have a real relationship with you beyond just picking up and dropping off our child."

She flinched a bit at that last statement, specifically the word "relationship". But she remained undeterred. "Our relationship is fine the way it is."

"Barely speaking?"

"We talk!"

"About Grace," Jane reminded her, "nothing else. If I asked you what the weather was you wouldn't say a word."

It was an exaggeration but only a slight one, any questions he'd ever asked about her personal life had been ignored or answered as limited as possible. Lisbon didn't reply to Jane's statement so he pressed on. "You never even wanted this much in the first place, you didn't want me to know about our child."

Lisbon sat back a little and didn't meet his eye. She couldn't deny that obvious truth but at least she did admit another. "But you do. You found out and we both agreed to the current arrangement. You know I trust her with you and I'm not ever going to try to take her from you. So why is it not enough now?"

"It was never enough," Jane replied.

She didn't say anything for a minute, certainly remembering that time in her pregnancy when they officially signed their custody agreement. She'd asked him how much time he wanted with their child and he'd replied honestly, "ever second of every minute of every day." She'd gotten annoyed at that response even though it was true. They had come to their fair agreement but Jane had never pretended to be all right with missing much of his child's life.

Lisbon eyed him warily. "What kind of relationship are you wanting?"

Jane grinned, he knew exactly what she was thinking about and it wasn't entirely erroneous. "Relax, I wasn't referring to anything romantic."

"I wasn't thinking about that."

"Of course you were, it was a natural progression after our history."

"I have never thought we would be together like that," Lisbon growled out.

He shook his head, still smiling. "Oh we both know very well that is not true. If it was then Grace wouldn't have been conceived." Lisbon blushed fiercely and looked away while Jane stared straight at her, not hiding that some spark was still burning there in his gaze. "Don't lie to me and say you weren't hoping for more, not after that night. I know I certainly had my own plans and dreams."

To her credit, she didn't deny it. But it took a while for Lisbon to finally be able to meet his eyes, when she did the walls were back in place. "You know that things changed. It's over, Jane. That dream is dead and buried just like Van Pelt. I've given you more than I planned. I can't give you anything else."

She leaned closer, almost threateningly. "It took a very long time for all of us to get over what happened. I will not let you come back and break them all over again."

Jane didn't shrink back. "That is assuming that things have already been fixed."

"You think otherwise."

"I know so," Jane told her, "do you really believe that everything is better? When we can barely say her name?"

"And you think you can fix that?"

"Maybe," he offered, "maybe part of healing is accepting what happened…and that includes letting me back in your lives."

"You're already in my life," Lisbon reminded him firmly, "and as much as I wish I could change that, I can't."

"I'm in Grace's life. Not yours."

"Fine. Did you ever think that maybe I don't want you in my life? That Cho and Rigsby don't want anything to do with you? I wasn't keeping them from you, they chose that all on their own. And for that matter, so did you."

He shrugged. "I've changed my mind."

"We haven't."

"Then I'll change yours," Jane told her simply. "That is what you wanted to know right? What I want? I want the life that I planned before everything fell apart, I want that back and I'm not going to give up. Not now."

She stared at him for a minute as if sizing him up before finally pushing her chair back. "We'll see about that. I'm not an easy sell and I'm not interested in buying your bullshit anymore."

Lisbon began to walk away and Jane couldn't help but add. "And the truth? Are you willing to purchase that?"

She mumbled something that sounded very much like her signature "Bite me" before walking out of the room. Jane chuckled lightly and turned back to his tepid tea. He'd known this wasn't going to be an easy road and that Lisbon would be his biggest stumbling block on his path.

But he'd learned that neither one of them was entirely unreceptive to his desires and that meant he had a chance.

The workday ended with little progress on the case but Lisbon wasn't all that surprised. At this point they were looking for a needle in a haystack, they weren't about to give up but it wasn't going to be instantaneous like on TV either. She might have stayed to try and work a little magic and speed things up but she had a daughter to go home to and that was infinitely more enjoyable then cold coffee and a late night at the office.

Grace cheered as soon as her mother came home; she was always excited about spending time with her mother…and her father for that matter. Lisbon hugged her daughter hello and spoke with Lisa about Grace's day while the little girl danced around her mother's legs. Finally it was time to wave goodbye to Lisa and Lisbon prepared her daughter for a healthy dinner.

Five years ago she'd have just grabbed takeout or thrown something together from whatever leftovers she had. But she was a mother now and conscious that her child needed better meals then microwave quesadillas and Chinese food from Mr. Wong's. So she'd looked up a few cookbooks on easy meals that were quick to throw together and still be healthy and she'd learned to master them through a little trial and error. It meant here daughter ate well and as a bonus, so did she. Of course she knew that Grace probably had her best meals at Jane's, the man was a master at everything, including the kitchen. But at least she was no longer sorely lacking in that department herself.

So some chicken she'd had marinating was grilled quickly and frozen peas were heated up along with some minute rice to make a real meal for her child. Jane and Lisbon had been blessed to have a daughter that wasn't a fussy eater, something Lisbon was certain came from her side. Grace merrily ate all of her vegetables but eagerly awaited her reward of a little bit of vanilla ice cream. Other kids loved chocolate or strawberry but Grace always wanted plain vanilla…just like her father.

Lisbon cleaned up the kitchen while Grace happily played in the living room with a couple of dolls and the big pink dollhouse she'd received as a present two Christmases ago. But Lisbon was keenly aware that her little girl keeping a careful eye on her mother's cell phone that was resting on the coffee table. Even when her mother finished cleaning up a few minutes before seven and joined her daughter in the living room, Grace still glanced over at the phone every so often.

Her wait was rewarded at precisely seven o'clock when the phone rang and Grace dashed for it. Lisbon had been expecting this, leaving her phone in that place precisely for this reason. Jane called every night that Grace wasn't with him, every night at exactly seven, never a minute early or late.

"Daddy!" Grace shouted into the phone.

Lisbon studied her hands and tried to ignore the phone call taking place but she always had one ear on the conversation. They never spoke about anything unusual, Jane asking about her day while Grace happily told him about the picture she drew at preschool and the games she played with her nanny. Her daughter slyly got a promise from her father to take her to the shop to build her own teddy bear, as if such extremes were necessary. Grace had Jane wrapped around her little finger.

The phone call between father and daughter went on for a few more minutes before finally with a little forlorn. "Goodbye, Daddy. I love you" Grace hung up. She was quiet for a moment, sad that she didn't get to see her father that day until she remembered that tomorrow was when Jane got to have her for a couple of hours in the evening.

"All right, Grace," Lisbon said with a false sense of cheer. "It's time for a bath before bedtime."

She scampered up to the bathroom to spend a half an hour playing in the tub with her bath toys, including a couple of mermaid toys that changed color when wet. Grace loved making up stories with her dolls while Lisbon scrubbed her clean. She also enjoyed finding ways to get her mother wet, including making a big splash that sent a lot of water sloshing over the side of the tub.

Lisbon rolled her eyes while wrapping her daughter up in a towel. "No doubt about it, you are your father's child," she told her.

Grace smiled that charming grin that she'd also inherited from her father. "Daddy says that too."

"Of course he does."

"He says I'm like you too."

Lisbon smiled and stroked Grace's cheek. "You got the best of both of us, dear. Something we are both grateful for."

For a few moments she gazed down at her child, her dark and unruly hair slicked back from the water exposing her fresh face and white skin. Her eyes were large like her father but she'd inherited her mother's deep green gaze. Her father's cheekbones and full lips gave her the same devilish smile that made anyone fall instantly in love with her. How had they been given this beautiful child? Or more importantly, why?

She shook those thoughts away for another time and focused on drying her daughter up and putting her down for bed. Grace always wanted a bedtime story before being able to settle down and sleep. Lisbon knew Jane liked to read her from a collection of comic books but Lisbon's choice was more traditional with Laura Ingalls Wilder or Beverly Clearly. Grace loved them all.

Finally her little girl was sleep peacefully in her bed and Lisbon gave her one last kiss goodnight before leaving her in her room. She made her way downstairs, picking up various toys that had been strewn down the hallway carpet along the way, depositing them in the toy bin that was against the wall behind the sofa.

Lisbon sighed heavily and poured herself a small glass of wine, a rare indulgence but for some reason she felt the need for it tonight. Probably the lingering affects of her day with Jane.

She sipped the wine slowly, enjoying the intoxicating flavor while her mind went back to the day, specifically to the conversation with Jane in the break room. She hadn't been expecting him to be upfront with his intentions, even if she suspected he was still hiding things from her. It wasn't easy pretending to be indifferent to him, especially when it was far from the truth.

Despite appearances, she hadn't been content to just ignore Jane's life except with it came to her daughter. She'd kept a few tabs on him and was well aware of any rumor that his name was attached to. Mostly it was tawdry gossip that she never paid any attention to. But a few whispers had given her pause, usually involving Jane's unlikely friendship with Emily Madsden. The only comfort she took was the firm knowledge that nothing had ever happened between Jane and her boss.

That didn't mean nothing ever could.

Lisbon stared at the wine in her glass, swirling it around a little but not drinking it. Why the hell did she even care about Jane's love life? She'd certainly moved on even if her few dalliances had never lasted more than a few hours and, truth be told, had never been very satisfying either.

She sighed and took another sip of wine. If she were completely honest with herself she would admit that she still felt the affects of her one indulgence with Jane, beyond the fact that they had conceived a child together. Some nights she still woke up alone in her cold bed, her skin still prickling with the faint memories of an elusive dream. Despite her wishes otherwise, Lisbon had never gotten over their night. That passionate time that she'd honestly begun to think she would never have and now believed never would again.

It wasn't supposed to happen like that, even Jane had admitted that much. But the hunt for Red John had brought out so many emotions in them. Some days they had been the perfect partnership, in sync with their thoughts and doggedly chasing the leads to narrow down the list even further. But more often than that they had been in heated arguments with Jane pulling away with the excuse to protecting her or trying to figure out who of the remaining names was the monster they were chasing. She'd responded by angrily pushing back, demanding answers or chasing Jane down herself, if only to be assured that he hadn't been killed by Red John himself.

The fights had been long and fierce and seemed to only grow, usually ending with her going home alone to sit on the edge of her bed to cry. Tears shed because she was terrified of losing Jane and too afraid to admit how she truly felt about him.

Those feelings kept bubbling up and the more they argued the more they admitted, always skirting around the edges though. The word "love" was never actually said, at least not by them. Others said it for them, but they never admitted it…nor did they deny it. That state of in between had only served to frustrate her to the point that she'd finally shouted out that she wanted him. She wanted him and she wanted to find Red John because she didn't want to share Jane with that monster any longer.

She'd run home after that, ashamed and embarrassed to admit something like that by accident. She hadn't expected him to go to her home and restart that argument, never expected to see a hunger in his eyes even as he told her that none of this was what they could have at a time when they were so close. Perhaps it had been from her admitting things or maybe it was because they were so close and afraid to lose one another without knowing each other truly.

He'd kissed her and when she'd caught her breath to ask him what he was doing he'd responded honestly. "Making you mine."

Jane had succeeded and she'd never gotten over it.

She had been his for that one night and the truth was that she'd never truly felt like she'd ever stopped being his. Not when she still recalled the way it felt to have her body thoroughly explored by him, to truly know what it was like to make passionate love to the one man she'd ever truly given her heart to.

The pain that had followed with Red John and Van Pelt's deaths had overshadowed those memories and she'd almost succeeded in pretending that the night between them hadn't mattered. Of course when she'd discovered her pregnancy she'd felt a different sort of fear and shame. How could she bring a child into this world, especially a child conceived with Jane? Their feelings had caused Van Pelt's death, why should those feelings be rewarded?

It had taken a long while for her to accept that she shouldn't feel guilt for her child. Even longer for her to get over the fear that somehow this baby would be taken away from her as a punishment. Some days she still stared at little Grace, not quite believing that she was actually real.

Did Jane have those same thoughts? Maybe, he certainly looked at their child with the same wonder she felt. She would never forget the way he'd cried when that newborn baby had been placed in his arms. It was one of the few times where she felt like she'd done something right not just for her but for Jane as well. It was the first time she'd ever felt guilty over trying to keep Jane away from her and their baby.

Slowly the years had helped her to heal. She could now let Jane into her home to have serious conversations about their daughter such as what school she would attend and which holidays she would spend with her father. But she had always been careful to keep her relationship with Jane only about Grace and nothing else.

She'd spent the past five years fixing the mistakes she'd made with the rest of her team, devoting her professional life Cho, Rigsby and now Brennar, something she could do now that Jane wasn't there to distract her with his smile that stole her heart. This is what terrified her, working with Jane again meant he could pull her back into that web that had led to Van Pelt's death and her enduring shame.

And Jane was determined to have what he wanted.

Lisbon took a final sip of wine and set the glass on the side table. Well she would just have to put up a fight because she couldn't go back, couldn't lose anyone else. She wouldn't ever become his again.

Even if deep down she knew she'd never stopped.

A/N: well what did you think? I'm sort of going with the flow with this fic without too much planned ahead so it's been an interesting experiment. I know that jane is going to keep pressing his suit with Lisbon but don't overlook Emily Madsden, she is a complication that you should all keep your eyes on.

Thank you for reading this chapter. I will be working on chapter four of my collaboration with Donnamour called Double Talk next, if you can believe that I can actually write something without angst! LOL